Devotions to Our Lady of Guadalupe

Members of Sociedades Guadalupanas from throughout the city recite a rosary during a viewing of Archbishop Emeritus Patrick Flores after a Mass for the Dead at San Fernando Cathedral, Monday, Jan. 16, 2017. Flores, 87, died last week, became an archbishop in 1979 and retired in 2004. His burial ceremony will be on Tuesday. less

Members of Sociedades Guadalupanas from throughout the city recite a rosary during a viewing of Archbishop Emeritus Patrick Flores after a Mass for the Dead at San Fernando Cathedral, Monday, Jan. 16, 2017. ... more

Photo: JERRY LARA, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

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Catholic Latinos revere the story of La Virgen de Guadalupe’s apparition to Juan Diego, who spoke to her in his native Nahuatl in 1531 on a hill in Tepeyac in what is now Mexico City. Her feast day is Tuesday. less

Catholic Latinos revere the story of La Virgen de Guadalupe’s apparition to Juan Diego, who spoke to her in his native Nahuatl in 1531 on a hill in Tepeyac in what is now Mexico City. Her feast day is ... more

Photo: ROBERT MCLEROY, STAFF / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

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Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, shown at last year’s Red Mass for the legal community, started visiting with Catholics in line for the Serenata three years ago.

Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, shown at last year’s Red Mass for the legal community, started visiting with Catholics in line for the Serenata three years ago.

Photo: San Antonio Express-News /File Photos

Devotions to Our Lady of Guadalupe

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A line will start forming early Monday afternoon outside San Fernando Cathedral for a cherished point on the Catholic calendar, the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Twenty-four years ago, the cathedral began holding its Serenata, or serenade, to La Virgen de Guadalupe, and the midnight Mass has become one of the Archdiocese of San Antonio’s most popular events of the year.

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Ultimately, hundreds will wait in Main Plaza to get a seat inside the cathedral. While in line, they’ll pray while fingering rosary beads. A few will travel the length of the line on their knees.

Known as the Patroness of the Americas, the Marian figure is a central one to Latino Catholics, who revere the story of a brown-skinned Mary’s apparition to a humble indigenous man, now St. Juan Diego, who spoke to her in his native Nahuatl in 1531 on a hill in Tepeyac in what is now Mexico City.

The festivities in San Antonio have earned a reputation far beyond the city limits, thanks to its inclusion in televised coverage from the famous basilica and shrine built on the site.

This year, as in the past two, Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller will be in Main Plaza with fellow priests, seminarians, nuns and deacons and spend time with the faithful. The priests bless them, their children and their devotions — candles, rosaries, images of Guadalupe and other saints.

It has become a part of the archbishop’s ministry and an answer to the Vatican’s call for the New Evangelization, an effort opened by Pope John Paul II, who asked Catholics to more deeply understand the Gospels and proclaim them to others, especially those who’ve experienced a crisis of faith.

The New Evangelization also calls for Catholics to meet people where they are — whether in faith or turmoil, devotion or light, church or workplace, or in Main Plaza in line for the Serenata.

The eve of the feast day has turned into “a really great moment of service,” García-Siller said. Three years ago, he took a break from prayer inside the cathedral before the Serenata and noticed the line of people outside.

“I decided to visit with them,” he said. “That’s how it started.”

Those waiting outside are in various stages of need and all look to Our Lady of Guadalupe for solace and comfort, as they would their own mothers, said Father Jonathan Felux, director of vocations and seminarians at Assumption Seminary, who will be at Main Plaza with the archbishop.

“They have a great desire to see our lady on that day,” even some who haven’t been to church in a long time, he said.

“We pray with them,” Felux said. “We talk through things. Sometimes it’s a family or work crisis, a struggle with addiction, or not being able to deal with loss.”

Sometimes their burdens are financial or involve their immigration status.

“It’s a beautiful thing to see them share something so intimate while they’re standing in the line,” Felux said. “There’s a sense of security of being home at the cathedral. … Wherever their mother is, is home.”

“I’ve seen amazing moments of healing,” he said. “I see their faces. I see them relax and be more at peace.”

Those who approach the cathedral on their knees do it as “an act of humility … they’re in the presence of holiness and seek to be close to her,” said Felux, who finds the gesture moving. “It’s an offering to God that says, ‘I may not have much, but I give everything I am.’”

Interacting with a member of the clergy adds to the special occasion, and Felux said the archbishop’s own popularity may be another factor — people express joy to be in his presence, he said.

Whatever their reasons, the core of the draw is faith — “It’s not just a trip downtown to see a pretty building,” Felux said.

Priests accompanying the archbishop will be hearing confessions in Main Plaza in the hours prior to the 8:30 p.m. start of the Serenata.

Several counselors from Catholic Charities will be available to speak with people who express or show special needs. The charitable arm of the archdiocese will provide other services as necessary, García-Siller said.

For those who don’t get a seat inside, a Jumbotron will be set up in front of the historic church in the heart of the city.

The Mass of the Patroness of the Americas, which will be bilingual, begins at midnight.

Univision affiliate KWEX-TV will carry the local Serenata from 10:30 to 11 p.m. and then pick up network coverage out of Mexico City from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.